


Megan's Christmas Present 2014 (for lack of a better name)

by SarkySquirrel



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 2014 christmas present for a friend, Brainwashing, Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers Friendship, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Memories, Violence, angsty, fluffy at the end, megan - Freeform, not very graphic, sad in some parts, shape shifter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-03 01:08:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2832653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarkySquirrel/pseuds/SarkySquirrel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas Present for my friend Megan.<br/>Long lost friends brought together during a fight. Only they are on opposite sides. And one doesn't remember the other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Megan's Christmas Present 2014 (for lack of a better name)

                It was a fight that brought the long lost friends back to each other. The only problem; they were on opposite teams. Sydney and Megan were the type that had grown up together, went to the same school, college etcetera.  That was until, of course, the car 'accident' that Sydney was in broke them apart.  According to the outside world, Sydney was dead, she died in that accident. It happened in the middle of nowhere, no witnesses, nothing to prove otherwise.

                Megan had no idea where Sydney was, and did try to look for her. But the evidence concluded that Sydney was dead, and there was nothing left. Many therapists and counsellors later, Megan appeared to have moved on, but it stuck in her mind that her best friend mysteriously died. That's when her career path changed. She didn't want to be a film director any more, she wanted to go into Law Enforcement, maybe even specialise.

                But, in reality, Sydney was dead. No, HYDRA - the Nazi organisation said to have had its downfall during World War II thanks to the help of Captain America and the Howling Commandos - had taken her and performed crude and horrifying experiments upon her. The man who tortured her said that she was special, and it became an echo, something he repeated over and over and over and over, every time the pain and the torture just getting worse and worse. She was put through trials, to test her newfound capabilities; her ability to shape shift into a wolf, one larger than any canine found on earth. She was kept in a cage, brainwashed and became a HYDRA attack dog. She did have some reprieve in the years in which she was trained. She was sent on many missions with The Winter Soldier. Sydney remembered her history enough to know that he was James Buchanan Barnes, Captain America's best friend, but he himself didn't know that. Throughout their missions together she and The Winter Soldier became incredibly close, though their frequent brainwashing halted their feelings for each other somewhat.

                Megan eventually moved up the ranks and was recruited by SHIELD to work alongside the infamous Black Widow, Natasha Romanov and Steve Rogers aka Captain America.  She and Natasha over years of working together became close, very close and soon a relationship formed.  Everybody knew not to insult them or question them, for they were highly dangerous and very resourceful. But that didn't stop the Avengers from teasing the pair. Clint and Tony were the worst, Steve tended to stay out of it, and Bruce just didn't want to Hulk out. Thor provided the team with a lot of insight as to how it worked on Asgard, in which no one wanted to hear what he had to say.

                But everything led to the moment they were at. They were fighting in downtown Manhattan. HYDRA had decided to launch a full out attack on The Avengers, or more specifically Megan, Steve and Natasha, and they sent their best weapons in first; The Winter Soldier and Silverwolf. They had been cropping up over the last couple of decades; assassinations, stolen objects, The Winter Solder being on record for much longer than that. It was suspected that The Winter Soldier was the one to assassinate J.F.K but he was a ghost and so no one could catch him or prove it.

                Megan knew Natasha had history with The Winter Soldier. She knew he had trained her to fight. She still had no idea who he was though, none of them did. That was until Steve had pulled the muzzle off of the Winter Soldier revealing his old friend Bucky Barnes. He was shell shocked.  Megan had been fighting with Silverwolf at the time. It was a large monstrous beast with sharp, bloodstained canines protruded from its nightmarish mouth. The reveal of The Winter Soldier distracted Megan enough to be pinned down to the ground by its large grey paws. It was growling above her, almost as if it was ready to rip her head off. She closed her eyes, readying herself for her impending doom.

                But it never came. Instead a sharp whine pitched and the beast was thrown off of her.  Natasha, even with her useless, shot shoulder had picked up a knife and shoved it into the wolf. As they recuperated they glanced over to Steve and saw The Winter Soldier pushing Steve out of the way and he ran over to the wolf's side.

                But there wasn't a wolf anymore. There was just a girl. She wore combat gear like he did only lighter, and there was a lot of blood oozing out of the wound in her shoulder. Just to the left of her heart. A near fatal wound. The Winter Soldier cupped her face with his flesh hand, checking she was awake and ready to move. When the girl did move, her face was revealed to Megan. It was Sydney. Megan's knees failed her as she dropped to the ground, an shocked expression coveting her face. Sydney nodded as The Winter Soldier - James Barnes - helped her up. The whole group was too shocked to stop the pair. Sydney took one step before her legs failed and James had to carry her away in the bridal style. Only this wasn't romantic, she was dying. And he had to get her to safety quickly.

                ---

                Once Megan, Steve and Natasha were back safely in Stark Tower, Megan blinked. She'd been a state of shock ever since her best friend was revealed to her. As had Steve. Natasha just wanted to know the whole story.

                So Megan told her. There wasn't anyone she trusted more than Natasha. She told her of their history, what happened, and how it was the reason she became who she was today. Natasha sat silently and listened to it all. Once Megan finished, Natasha hugged her tightly, promising she would never leave her.

                Then night fell and they slept restlessly. The trio all had nightmarish dreams, Megan of Sydney, and Natasha of The Winter Soldier and Steve of Bucky. None of them wanted to talk about it in the morning.

                The next day, HYDRA was revealed and it along with SHIELD fell. Steve had been fighting Bucky on the heli-carriers, only breaking through his compulsion at the last moment, before their descent into the Potomac.

                Sydney and Megan were fighting in the forest where The Winter Soldier rescued him from drowning. Megan had tried to get through to Sydney with memories and words that she should have recognised but to no avail. Sydney had been wiped again, and her memories were still figments of imagination to her.

                There was one thing that cracked her.

                Sydney had pinned Megan to the ground like the day before, only she was human and had her human hands wrapped around Megan's throat. Megan was begging her to stop, pleading with her subconscious. She was on the verge of passing out when those six little words were spoken.

                "C'mon dude, work with me here."                                                     

                Sydney released her hold on Megan, only to clutch at her forehead. "Meg?"

                "Sydney? Yeah, it's me. Homie, I am right here." Megan replied taking in as much breath as she could.

                Sydney crawled away and stood up, still clutching her forehead. Megan followed suit by standing, but was quickly pushed away by The Winter Soldier who seemed to intervene just as Sydney was about to attack her again.

                "No, we have to go." He insisted as he dragged the girl away. His flesh arm seemed to be incapacitated.

                Megan yelled at the retreating couple. "What did you do to Steve?"

                The Soldier simply waved in the direction he emerged from before disappearing into thin air. Megan quickly ran through the thick wood before she came out on the riverside. Down a way she saw a muddy costume she recognised and sprinted over to Steve's side. He was bleeding profusely from his lower abdomen but he was alive and breathing which was a plus.

                -----

                Two weeks later, thanks to Steve's super human healing abilities he was back and already on the search for Bucky and Sydney. Megan was helping him, knowing that if she got through to her friend once she could do it again.

                The pair had ventured over to Europe and the United Kingdom. Megan and Steve chased the pair through most of Germany and France, before hopping over the English Channel and entering England and Wales. From Steve and Megan's perspectives the pair were revisiting places of their past as their memories slowly filtered through the block the brainwashing created.

                But before they could reach their old friends Director Coulson intervened and arrested the two ex HYDRA assassins. This was the first reveal that Coulson was alive for Steve. He was angry, but he had bigger fish to fry.  Megan had never met Director Coulson, but she knew that Nick Fury trusted him a lot. When they arrived at the headquarters that Coulson was laying low in, and slowly rebuilding SHIELD in, Coulson quickly let her and Steve know that Sydney and Bucky were causing quite a lot of destruction.

                When they were shown the proof it was pretty clear that all they wanted was to be together. Sydney was in her wolf form and was smashing her body into the force-field that held her in the cell. From Sydney's point of view, it was a cage. Bucky could be seen across the room in a cell just like her own, he only had one arm, his metal one was being worked on by Coulson's closest engineer, Fitz. He was shouting to her, trying to calm her down and stop her from hurting herself anymore than she already had. She did once she heard the door above them open and Steve, Megan and the man who kidnapped her and Bucky enter the room. She didn't change back, simply cowering in the furthest corner as she could, growling at the two watching her.

                Steve wandered over to see Bucky, sitting in front of his cell and softly speaking to him. "Hey buddy."

                "Could you just let me out, she's just scared. Please Stevie." He begged quickly. Steve was shocked at his old friend, he seemed to know who he was using the old nickname. He glanced over to Coulson and Megan who were watching Sydney with a close eye. He could see that Sydney's act was just a defensive manoeuvre, and Bucky's eyes were pleading with him.

                "Okay." He touched the button that brought down the force field keeping Bucky in. Bucky quickly sprinted across the room to Sydney's cell, entering when the shield disappeared for only a moment.

                Bucky and Sydney quickly embraced and Sydney changed back into a human. Megan and Steve could see bruising all over her upper body, there was no doubt there was more, just hidden under her skinny jeans, converse chucks and the blue tank top. Sydney curled into Bucky's neck, clutching on to the shirt Bucky was wearing. At least she was calm.

                They left the two to have their moment for a couple of minutes before Bucky pulled out of the hug and smiled softly. "It's okay. They won't hurt you. No more tests, no more brainwashing." He reassured her, and that's when everything clicked for Megan. Sydney wasn't scared of her, she was scared of being experimented on again. She had experienced so much pain that she had learnt her wolf was the only thing that stopped the pain.

                Sydney nodded and the shield was dropped, the pair technically being free now. She stood up with Bucky, glancing hesitantly at Megan and slowly approaching her. Megan let her go at her own pace, watching her every move with a friendly smile. "So, " she smiled awkwardly, "I'm not dead." The sarcasm she possessed never truly disappeared.

                Megan laughed, "I've noticed."  Sydney quickly instigated a hug which Megan returned firmly, it was something she definitely missed.

                Steve and Bucky were embracing behind them, brothers reuniting, though it was kind of hard since Bucky only had one arm. "Hey, y'think I could have my arm back?"

                Megan laughed at the request before replying, "I think we could lend you a hand."

                Sydney burst out laughing. It was the first time she'd openly laughed and enjoyed herself around other people. Bucky glared at her before tackling her to the ground and tickling her with one hand.

                Meanwhile, Coulson invited all four of them out of the jail and up to the main living area of HQ. Bucky was given his arm back, the HYDRA tracker and self destruct mechanism taken out and destroyed. Bucky was flexing it as he and Sydney cuddled while taking to Steve and Megan. Natasha strolled into the room and picked Megan up before placing her on her lap. Sydney and Bucky watched as the pair kissed, Bucky turning to Steve and whispering, "Is that okay now?" To which Steve nodded.

                Sydney however just smiled and, once the pair broke apart, commented, "You still batting for both teams?"

                "I think it's about 75% gay and 25% straight. Problem?"

                "Nope. Good for you." Sydney shrugged. She knew she wouldn't be able to change her decision but she wouldn't want to in the first place. Plus she wasn't one to judge; her boyfriend was a 97 year old super soldier who was also an ex Nazi assassin. Though that last bit wasn't his choice.

                "Good. Well, see you lot later." Natasha dragged Megan away in what was probably  the direction of their private room. Sydney honestly didn't want to think about what they were doing. She wanted to be able to look at her friend again without having that image in her head. Instead she curled into Bucky's neck and fell asleep.


End file.
